Key Takeaways:
- Drinking faucet water directly from the tap can pose health risks.
- The EPA monitors only 90 contaminants, while over 320 may be present in water supplies.
- Drinking contaminated faucet water can lead to severe health issues, including nervous system and organ damage.
- Testing your water and installing a filtration system tailored to your needs are the most effective ways to improve water safety.
- Filtering your faucet water with a Tyent water ionizer not only makes it safer to drink, but transforms it into alkaline hydrogen water for added health benefits.
Nothing beats the convenience of faucet water. With one turn of the tap, you’ve got quality H20 for brushing your teeth, doing the dishes, and so much more. But is faucet water safe to drink?
While the EPA states that the U.S. has one of the safest drinking water systems globally, you’ll be surprised to know that faucet water isn’t a healthy option for drinking water.
This article covers why you should never drink faucet water straight from the tap, common contaminants found in faucet water, and the importance of investing in an alkaline hydrogen water filter system for the sake of your health.
What is Faucet Water?
Faucet water, also known as tap water, is the water that flows through household faucets and is supplied to homes and buildings through plumbing systems.
Long before it flows from your faucets, this water is sourced from either surface water or groundwater and treated for contaminants at your local water utility. In more rural areas, faucet water is drawn directly from the ground through privately owned wells.
The quality of your faucet water hinges on natural and man-made factors, everything from mineral content to agricultural runoff to treatment methods.
Hard Water vs. Soft Water
Water is considered “hard” or “soft” based on its mineral content. Hard water generally has higher calcium and magnesium levels, too much of which can potentially lead to health problems, including diarrhea and eczema flares. It can also contain other metals, such as lead and aluminum, which have been associated with brain and kidney damage.
Is faucet water safe to drink if you soften it first? Not so much. Because removing calcium, magnesium, and other minerals is what makes water soft, hydrating with soft water puts you at risk of nutrient deficiencies. Plus, soft water has the potential to leach metals, like copper and lead, from plumbing fixtures.
Is Faucet Water Safe to Drink?
No, faucet water straight from the tap is not safe to drink.
While the EPA enforces limits on 90 contaminants in public water systems, over 320 potential pollutants are unregulated. These can include industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and agricultural runoff. Additionally, water may become contaminated during its journey to your tap due to aging infrastructure or improper wastewater management. For private wells, safety testing is the homeowner’s responsibility.
Given the potential dangers of faucet water, it’s important to invest in an advanced water filtration system, like the one found in Tyent water ionizers. Tyent’s NSF-certified filters remove over 200 dangerous contaminants from your tap water, including heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and 100% of lead. Tyent also offers a range of pre-filtration options to match your source water needs.
Contaminants Found in Faucet Water
These contaminants could be lurking in your faucet water:
- Arsenic: A natural compound found in groundwater. Arsenic poisoning can cause skin discoloration, nausea and vomiting, partial paralysis, blindness, even cancer.
- Chlorine: Added to public water systems to control microbes, ingesting or inhaling too much chlorine can lead to breathing problems, chronic cough, and sore throat.
- Fluoride: Fluoride has been added to drinking water to reduce cavities since the 1940s. Consuming high levels over a long period can result in bone and joint stiffness and hardening, muscle loss, and nerve problems.
- Heavy Metals: Lead, mercury, and other heavy metals polluting tap water can cause a variety of adverse health effects, including cardiovascular disorders, kidney and brain damage, and cancer.
- Herbicides and Pesticides: Used to get rid of insects and control unwanted plants, these chemicals are toxic to humans. They can cause health problems like headaches and nausea in the short-term, and cancers and reproductive harm over time.
- Sodium Chloride: The water softening process removes excess calcium and magnesium in hard water, but usually replaces them with sodium chloride (salt). In large amounts, this can cause respiratory distress, vomiting, and convulsions, among other side effects.
- Nitrate: Nitrate is a compound that naturally occurs in the air, soil, and water. Too much nitrate in drinking water may lead to increased heart rate, nausea, headaches, cramps, and possibly certain cancers.
- Radon: A natural gas that dissolves and accumulates in groundwater, increasing the risk of developing internal organ cancers.
- Diethyl Phthalate: Used to make flexible plastics, drinking faucet water contaminated with diethyl phthalate can lower sperm quality and count, disrupt sex hormone levels, and increase the risk of cancer.
- Bacteria: Pathogens in drinking water can cause diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, nausea, headaches, fever, as well as stomach and intestinal inflammation.
- Phosphates: Found in fertilizers and detergents, high levels of phosphates in the body can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Pharmaceutical Drugs: Small amounts of drugs can enter water systems because of improper disposal and human excretion. The health effects of this have yet to be defined, but antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest concerns.
- Dioxins: Highly toxic contaminants produced in combustion processes, like discharges from chemical factories. Dioxins can interfere with hormones, damage the immune system, and cause cancer.
Risks of Drinking Polluted Faucet Water
Drinking faucet water that contains unsafe levels of contaminants can cause a variety of mild to severe health issues. How many—and how severe—depends on the type and concentration of the contaminant, how much you consume, and for how long.
Exposure to high doses of chemicals, for instance, can lead to many severe health problems, including nervous system and organ damage. Pathogens, like bacteria and viruses, could be lurking in your faucet water too. These can cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and kidney problems, among other unpleasant symptoms.
How to Improve the Safety of Your Faucet Water
You deserve better than having to wonder: Is tap water safe? Fortunately, you can improve the safety of your faucet water in three simple steps.
Test Your Water
Using an at-home water test can help you gauge how safe your faucet water is, but their accuracy can vary. For precise results, the EPA recommends test kits that have you collect a sample and send it to a certified lab. However, this option is pricey and it can take weeks to get your results.
The good news? You can get an accurate water quality report from Tyent absolutely free. Tyent has water quality data for every major municipality in the country and can give you the contents of your faucet water within hours—no water sample required!
Contact Tyent for your free water report.
Use a Water Filtration System
Once you know which chemicals and germs are lurking in your faucet water, you can invest in the appropriate water filtration system.
To turn your faucet water into the safest, best water to drink, Tyent water ionizers are the best choice. Every Tyent water ionizer comes fully equipped with a dual Dialapure filtration system that removes over 200 dangerous contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and 100% of lead from your faucet water.
Tyent also offers a range of advanced pre-filters to improve the quality of your source water and lengthen the life of your main filter.
Tyent water ionizers transform your tap water into hydrogen-rich alkaline water that’s packed with antioxidants. What might this mean for your health? Among other health perks, drinking Tyent water can increase your energy levels, boost your immune system, and even promote better sleep.
Decide which Tyent water ionizer is right for you.
Monitor Local Water Quality Reports
Look up your area’s Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). It’s an annual report every community water supplier is required to provide its customers by July 1st of each year.
The CCR lists the contaminants found in your tap water and their levels at the time of testing. If your water supply has high levels of contaminants, your water utility is required to explain how they affect your health and exactly how they’re handling the problem.
You can also check out the Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database for insights on any unregulated contaminants that might be lurking in your faucet water.
Benefits of Tap Water Filters
Filtering your faucet water can offer many benefits.
Removes Contaminants
Tap water filters effectively remove harmful pathogens and other impurities, ensuring you don’t have to worry about the quality and safety of your faucet water.
Tyent’s line of water ionizers are fully equipped with dual 0.01-micron filtration systems (the same type of filtration that’s used in kidney dialysis machines!), keeping lead out of your drinking water along with other contaminants.
Improves Hydration
Unlike reverse osmosis systems, which can’t distinguish between beneficial and harmful elements in your tap water, Tyent filters remove only the harmful contaminants while preserving essential, bioavailable minerals.
The result? Faucet water that’s not only safe to drink but rich in the electrolytes and antioxidants.
Enhances Taste and Odor
Filtering your faucet water makes it look, smell, and taste better. As a result, staying hydrated won’t feel like a chore. Tyent water has a pure, clean, and refreshing taste. It’s so enjoyable that you’ll never go back to drinking faucet water.
Boosts Overall Health
Using a tap water filter improves the quality of your water and supports your overall health by removing harmful contaminants like chlorine and heavy metals. Clean water promotes hydration, aids digestion, and enhances skin and energy levels.
A Tyent water ionizer, one of the best hydrogen water machines available, takes it further by transforming your tap water into hydrogen-rich alkaline water. Molecular hydrogen, the smallest and most powerful antioxidant, boosts hydration and offers benefits such as:
- Increased energy
- Improved mental clarity
- Immune support
- Protection from free radicals
- Healthier skin
- Better sleep
And all at the touch of a button!
Learn More About Drinking Faucet Water
Still have questions about how safe it is to drink faucet water? Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about drinking faucet water.
Is it good to drink faucet water?
Drinking faucet water is more convenient, cost-effective, and better for the environment than bottled H20. But there are hundreds of dangerous contaminants going unmonitored in water supplies, so always make sure to filter your faucet water before drinking.
Is it okay to drink water out of the faucet?
It’s never a good idea to drink water directly from the faucet. The EPA only monitors around 90 contaminants, when there are over 320 lurking in tap water. To protect yourself from dangerous chemicals and pathogen exposure, filtering your faucet water before drinking it is vital.
How do I check if my tap water is safe to drink?
The EPA recommends sending a water sample to a state-certified lab for analysis. However, this can cost hundreds of dollars and results can take weeks. Tyent can give you the precise contents of your faucet water within hours and at no cost to you. Simply get in touch for a free water report.
Is Faucet Water Safe to Drink? The Bottom Line
Even though every public water system is required to meet the health-based standards set by the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act, there are likely hundreds of contaminants going unmonitored in your water supply that can cause both acute and chronic health problems. Why risk it when Tyent water ionizers make the process of filtering your faucet water so easy?
Find out exactly what’s in your water by ordering a free water quality report from Tyent, then order the appropriate pre-filters necessary to deep-clean your source water. (Tyent’s third-party test results say it all.)
Faucet water filtered by Tyent water ionizers isn’t just cleaner and safer, it’s healthier, too. Tyent water ionizers transform your faucet water into antioxidant-packed alkaline water, the amazing benefits of which include increased energy, radiant skin, and a stronger immune system.
Feel the difference for yourself: Tyent offers a generous 75-day trial period to make sure you’re 100% satisfied with your purchase.
Try a Tyent water ionizer for 75 days, risk-free!
